July 3rd, 2009

Our thru-hikers called to update us with the following information: They have finally begun to catch up with other thru-hikers. This was the first time since they began the hike that their shelter, Rockspring Hut was filled with 4 thru-hikers: Gnarley from Brooklyn, who currently lives in NH, he made them alfredo for dinner, Phoenix Rising, a woman in her mid-30s, 10 x 10 from Connecticut, and Blue Eyes from Va. At Skyland park, they ate lunch with Phoenix and it was, in Jack's words, "super-good!" On Thursday they hiked 28 miles and they finally caught up with thru-hikers Camel and Fungae....had not seen them in several weeks due to the mileage loss resulting from Jack and Chris' battle with water purification problems. Looks like Jack and Chris will be in the main pack of north-bound thru-hikers in the next few weeks.

Looking forward to seeing our hikers again while they are still in the vicinity. Happy trailing to Front Royal!